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Lesley & Malcolm Gough are the present ‘owners’ of Chater Valley Farm. This is their story.

“OWNERS” doesn’t feel quite the right word to Malcolm and I however. As the Native Americans believe and someone once said: “What is this you call property? It cannot be the earth, for the land is our mother, nourishing all her children, beasts, birds, fish and all men. The woods, the streams, everything on it belongs to everybody and is for the use of all. How can one man say it belongs only to him?”

We feel like we are the guardians of Chater Valley, simply trying to leave it better than we found it. We like sharing its beauty, its calmness, its energy, and its safe and protective environment, which helps us to help others reconnect with their authentic souls. One day we shall probably call it the “Chater Valley Retreat” as that is the journey we are on.

Lesley is a psychotherapist, cognitive behaviour therapist and combines different methodologies to help bring about healing and transformation for people. Since living so close to nature, the land and the animals – she has developed an energetic sensing that helps her to help others in gaining a greater understanding of who they are. She partners with horses on the farm in Equine Facilitated Therapy, has a Biofield Tuning practice which is a process that uses tuning forks both diagnostically and therapeutically to locate and correct distortions in the body’s energy field. And offers Shamanic ways of healing and practice.

Below you can see a record of the key dates of my work experiences and qualifications, which may provide some comfort and confidence to those people who like to read such things. Following my degree, I went on to study Counselling at Goldsmiths University and then specialised in CBT at Derby University. Despite spending most of my career working within the NHS, I always dreamt of being able to combine my psychotherapy experience with my love of the outdoors and my special interest in horses. This was a significant moment in my life. When practising CBT I always felt there was something more in trying to help people in need. It wasn’t until I started to practise Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy that l realised what it was that I had been missing. We spend so much time in our heads and many modern therapies are still geared to ‘fixing people’ by helping them to adjust the way they think. There’s nothing wrong in that. It’s just incomplete. What about what we feel? What makes us happy? What’s our true purpose in life?

Working with horses gave me the answers, or at least a route by which I can help others find their own answers. Horses are herd animals and they have been around for a very long time and a lot longer than humans. Being prey animals they have developed a kind of super power which helps them communicate especially when they are threatened – it’s not just verbal communication or even super developed body language but an ability to sense energy and feelings. Put a human being in with a horse and it is very likely the horse will act as a mirror to the emotions and feelings of that person. If the person pretends to be happy but inside they are feeling deep sadness from a hurtful past, the horse is likely to sense that almost immediately. It can often come as a shock to someone that a horse can so easily ‘see through them’, especially if they have been “in disguise” most of their lives.

This moment of authenticity is often the start of a person’s journey to a life full of authenticity and real expressed feelings. I feel like the navigator in this process, helping people to interpret the mirroring energy of the horse. It’s a beautiful thing.

It was quite early in our stewardship of Chater Valley Farm that the culture of Native Americans came into our lives. The environmental wisdom and spirituality of the First Nation tribes is legendary. Animals were respected as equal in rights to humans. Of course they were hunted, but only for food, and the hunter first asked permission of the animal’s spirit. Among the hunter-gatherers the land was owned in common: there was no concept of private property in land, and the idea that it could be bought and sold was repugnant. Many Indians had an appreciation of nature’s beauty as intense as any Romantic poet. Religious beliefs varied between tribes, but there was a widespread belief in a Great Spirit who created the earth, and who pervaded everything.

Wisdom derives from way of life, and is as fragile as nature. Many Indians shared their animism, their respect for nature and their attitude to the land with other hunter-gatherers. But when ways of life change, beliefs change to support them.

Malcolm’s story:Living at Chater Valley has led to us to create an environment which helps us to help others to get back on track with their authentic lives. This usually involves thinking less and feeling more, but old habits die hard and sometimes people need a helping hand to get “reconnected”. Having worked in the Media, Digital and Events industries at senior executive level for many years, it was always unsurprising to observe that people who were happy in their jobs were usually good at them. Encouraging authenticity in the managers l worked alongside, always seemed to lead to a positive outcome, and so while it might seem an unusual jump from managing media businesses to professional Sound Therapist and making personalised Talking Sticks, there’s more in common than you might think.

A few years ago I had my first “Sound Bath” and was amazed at the experience, so much so that I trained with the British Academy of Sound Therapy for a Professional Diploma in Sound Therapy. You can liken a SoundBath to a deep massage with meditation, with sounds washing over and through you, giving your mind the chance to quiet and your body a helping hand to relax and heal. Unlike Meditation or Yoga, you don’t training to experience it. You just need to be able to lie down and close your eyes. Vibrations from the instruments have a way of easing you into an Altered State of Consciousness which can be deeply relaxing and can, research proves, initiate physical healing. To those who are sceptical about this practice, think about the power of music — and other sounds such as breaking waves — to bring joy, inspiration, energy or even anger. The “instruments” I use include Gongs, Himalayan Singing Bowls, Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls and a host of tuned percussion including drums. It has taken a while to discover my true purpose in life – to help others to be healthy and happy – but it gives me great joy. I run regular Group and 1-2-1 SoundBaths and Drum Circles (both for Relaxation and Healing). My journey has also led me to study Nutrition over the past two years, in the belief that we need to be helping ourselves (and people drawn to Chater Valley) in an holistic way – body, mind and spirit. I don’t claim to be a Nutritionist but l may be able to help your strive for harmony and balance by posing some questions about what you eat. I’ve come to believe that if your feed yourself the wrong food then conventional medicine is unlikely to fix you if you become sick; but if you do feed your body the nutrition it needs, then that medicine may not be necessary. There are several pioneering doctors in the USA, such as Dr Joel Fuhrman, who strongly believe that (the right) Food is the First Medicine; this is a view with which I strongly concur. As for making Talking Sticks, I was trained as an engineer and have always enjoyed making things with my hands. I love creative & candid (people) photography too, which I inherited from my photographer father. And l love beautiful things, especially if born out of Nature. If you combine all of these things with my philosophy of how to help people (re)connect with their true selves, it all comes together when making my personalised Talking Sticks.

So this brings our story almost up to date. Our love of First Nation culture and Mother Earth has led us down a path to embrace elements of Shamanism, Meditation, Yoga and a more conscious way of living. There seems to be little these days in the way of customs and traditions, which were so revered by our ancestors. We are trying to resurrect some of these ancient customs and practices, and interpreting them to make them pertinent for contemporary living. These themes come out in the Retreats, Workshops and Courses we now run. Why not come and join us.

Meet the herd

Bear: I’m the new guy around here. In my quiet courageous way I am beginning tomake friends, and slowly learning how to be accepted by the herd and understand the values and culture. I’m finding eating times a bit competitive but think I’ve got the hang of it now. I was rescued along with 20 other cobs roaming Colwyn Bay in North Wales. I try to be gentle, engaging, protective, humble and generous in spirit. I like working with Lesley and the people she helps.

Lady May: I like to be seen as a gentle, loving little Falabella, and although I am diminutive in size, I have a big heart and a big presence. I also fully own my feminine power. I take great pride in that I was the first herd member to arrive at Chater Valley and have just loved trying to find my way into the hearts and souls of some of our visiting gifted children. I am told I am very loving, protective and supportive, as well as being a great mum to Leon. Just trying to teach him some manners right now. If he nips Lola again, he’s grounded!

Lola: I’m a Falabella and came from France where I was born. I really love tender moments of connection. I like to get as close as possible to share some grooming time with my herd and human friends like Malcolm (left). Lesley tells me l awaken the magic in everyone I meet. I also remind them about the importance of true friendship, loyalty and passion for our cause, and to have the courage to champion justice for all. I have one blue eye, which is quite unusual. That pesky Leon keeps chasing after me but I’m not ready for a relationship just yet.

Bella: I am clear about my boundaries, honest about my changeable moods, sweet when I choose and sensitive about my own space. I am a black and white cob mare. I’m lively, love to be free and playful when in the pasture. I like to be joyful and affectionate with some, but my human friends say I can be a little testy. At just four years old I’ve done a lot in my young life. I can be ridden or driven in a carriage, but haven’tdone that for a while. Lesley fell in love with me on a visit to Appleby where I was being sold by my previous human friends. Lesley turned up at the fair with no money or trailer, but the kind people of Appleby lent her a trailer so as she could bring me home to Chater Valley Farm. Since then I’ve become the boss girl around here and I like to move my friends around when the feeling takes me. That’s because I’m the lead mare . . . but I sometime have to let Hero take charge. Boys!

Hero: I’m an Irish Sports horse who’s life has been at the service of humans in the show jumping ring.I joined the herd here at the farm in 2014. I was rehomed from Bransby Horse Sanctuary where I used to live. I am reserved with new people and it takes considerable time to gain my trust with some humans. That’s because I had an unhappy spell with some humans before now. I have a very soft spot for Bella and we always seem to hang out. She thinks she’s the boss but I have to remind her once in a while that sometimes I know best. I don’t like to see my herd friends quarrelling so usually intervene if I get the chance.

Leon: I am the only one in the herd that was actually born on the farm. So I’m pureblood Rutlander! I was born at Christmas and for ages I thought my world world was permanently covered in snow. Mymother, Lady May, says I’m a feisty and very independent little fellow. I don’t know about that, I just think I’m confident in my own skin. She says I’m not yet emotionally mature enough to work with therapeutic clients. I don’t know what she’s talking about ‚ all these grown ups, what do they know?! I have to admit that I do love to do things my way. After all, I’m the only stallion around here even though I am a small Falabella the herd is teaching me boundary lessons at present, l’m not sure what that means either.

Why are horses so good at helping people?

An eagle can spot a hare from over a mile away; a bat can fly an intricate path at night using hearing alone; and horses can be the perfect ‘mirror’ to your feelings and emotions. Equine-assisted therapy/learning takes full advantage of this power by partnering with horses in the therapeutic process. Horse assisted therapy, or Equine Assisted Learning as it is sometimes called, works to develop high sensory awareness in individuals, in order to bring about positive change in their lives. Equine assisted therapy (no riding involved) can benefit many people by:

Becoming authentic and true to self by providing challenging, fun and therapeutic healing

Why wait to have more joy, balance and freedom in your life? Book your free introductory session with Lesley, partnered by our beautiful herd of horses in the lovely surroundings of Chater Valley Farm. Contact Lesley in confidence on 01780 720660 or email lesley@chatervalley.com